I'm just curious... today I made a chocolate devil's food cake which I've made countless times before. But today the cake turned out weird. It tasted a bit off (doesn't taste like chocolate cake at all) and the texture was grainy. Anyone knows why? The only different thing I did was adding the salt (I normally just omit it).

What recipe did you use? 

For the Cake
6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pans
8 oz. (1-3/4 cups) all-purpose flour; more for the pans
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2-1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1-1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/2 cups buttermilk, preferably low fat, at room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I substituted with yogurt)

Make the Cake

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter two 8x2-inch round cake pans and line each with a parchment round. Butter the parchment, dust with flour, and tap out any excess.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until lighter in color and slightly increased in volume, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated before adding the next

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder onto a piece of parchment. Add the salt to the dry ingredients after sifting.

Using the parchment as a chute, add one-quarter of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add about 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and mix on low speed until incorporated. Continue to alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk, mixing until incorporated after each addition and stopping to scrape the bowl and beater as necessary. Using a whisk, fold the mayonnaise into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean and the sides of the cake have begun to pull away from the pan slightly, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the rack and remove the pans and parchment. Cool the cakes completely.

I have made this many times before and they always turn out good, only the last time. I will try it again today, omitting the salt as usual and see if it makes a difference. Also, I did notice that the failed attempt has a more crumbly texture...